Albert Heijn duo escape jail
10 January 2003
AMSTERDAM ?An Amsterdam court has imposed a EUR 600 fine on an Albert Heijn (AH) employee who chased after and broke the nose of a knife-wielding thief after he had stolen money from an AH supermarket.
The judge imposed the fine after he ruled that Simon Linderman, 30, had struck the thief after the police had handcuffed the man. "A lot is allowed, but not everything," the judge said. Linderman has two previous convictions for violence.
A second Albert Heijn worker, Lucas Porsius, 27, was acquitted because there was no evidence he used undue violence during the capture of the thief.
The case hit the headlines last year when populist newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the two "have-a-go heroes" were being prosecuted in relation to the incident. The thief also tried to sue the men for damages because his nose was broken.
Prince Bernhard, the 91-year-old father of Queen Beatrix, was so incensed that he rang the newspaper the next day and offered to pay any fine imposed on the two men. It is not clear if the prince still plans to do so.
The opportunist thief snatched EUR 540 from an open cash till last August and made off with the money. When he saw the two supermarket workers were chasing him, he threatened them with a knife, but he threw it away before they overpowered him.
The police soon arrived and put the thief in handcuffs. Then Linderman, a police witness said, suddenly punched the thief on the nose. The thief made a complaint and the police arrested all three men.
After the case, Linderman's lawyer indicated that the fine, of which EUR 300 was suspended, would be appealed.
[Copyright Expatica News 2003] |
登录
